BERLIN THUNDER      31
@
SCOTTISH CLAYMORES          62
HAMPDEN  SUNDAY 6TH APRIL 2003
A sunny day in Glasgow opened the Claymores 2003 season and the crowd of almost 15,000 were treated to something that none of them will ever forget.
Rob Hart kicked off the Claymores season and Berlin went to work gaining yards in the air and on the ground as the Claymores defense struggled to come to terms with them. The drive was halted when Burris was sacked by Darnell Robinson at the 6 yard line so Thunder had to settle for a Field Goal.
The Claymores offence went to work with Craig Nall at the controls and a nice mix up of plays marched them down the field and the drive was capped when Ken Simonton went up the middle for an 11 yard touchdown, Rob Hart kept his perfect PAT streak alive and the Claymores were in front.
Berlin again went on the march helped by a couple of impressive runs and poor tackling  and Burris connected with Hechenbach for a 20 yard strike to take the lead.
Nall went to work again and Jonh Minardi snared a 34 yard TD pass from the Green Bay man to change the lead again. Nall was impressive in this drive and looks to be a a star in the making.
The Claymores D were on their heels again as Burris scrambled away from pressure and scampered into the endzone from the 12 yard line to put Thunder back in front again with a score of 17-14.
Shane Stafford took over from Nall and the New England QB engineered another scoring drive, this time with the elusive Simonton darting in from 5 yards oput to continue the see-saw game.
Berlin were forced to punt on their next series but when Stafford's attempted pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage  Thunder picked him off at the Claymores 25. They were made to pay as on the next play Stambaugh found Brown in isolation and Berlin went ahead again.
Scotlands next drive ended in disaster as Stafford was again picked off andColeman returned the ball 35 yards to push Berlins advantage to 10.
With the half winding down Stafford redeemed himself as he found Scott McCready from 27 yards out to cut the half time deficit to 3 points in a crazy crazy 30 minutes of football.

Nall was back in charge for the opening drive of the third quarter and Rob Hart tied the scores with a 31 yard Field Goal, his 13th in a row. Berlin attempted a 52 yard Fielg Goal but it fell short giving the Claymores excellent field position which they gleefully accepted and went in front for good when Brian Holmes nailed a 37 yard Field Goal.
The game took another twist when Brown fumbled a pass and Robert Flickinger recovered on the Berlin 35 yard line. An interference call soon put the Claymores on the Thunder 3 yard line and Simonton ran in for his third TD of the game.
Burris was picked off by Robbie Robinson on the next drive and the next play Maurice Hicks waltzed into the endzone from the 32 yard line.
Ken Simonton scored his record 4th touchdown at the start of the 4th quarter this time from 5 yards out helped in no small part by another Robbie Robinson interception.
The Thunder were a well beaten side by now but there was still time for the play of the day. Backed up on their 7 yard line, Maurice Hicks took a hand off and sprinted down the left sideline avoiding a tackle at the Thunder 20 for a NFLE record 93 yard score and to finish the scoring in this shootout.